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4 comments on “A Croc Bit My Sock – ABC News”

Everyone was so relaxed about the whole thing! Oh my gosh, what a difference from the news programs in the States that I refuse to watch!

If something like that happened here? Let’s say a small rattlesnake found a warm patch under a rock in a playground at an elementary school? The news would be running promos at every commercial until 6 p.m. and they would have special music and graphics…. You get the idea.

They’d re-run the whole thing at 9 p.m. with a special updated interview with Texas Parks & Wildlife, which would be baffled by all of the hullabaloo, but still.

I loved that the principal had her heel off and was so relaxed. “Oh yeah, crocodile, the children all scattered in a big circle. Never seen one here before.” Shrug.

I have noticed that the US style ‘panic media’ is creeping more and more into our television here in Australia. It really makes me mad! You can see them desperately trying to make a story out of nothing. Fortunately it is not taking over everything just yet, but I am sure it will only be a matter of time. A while ago an experienced and respected news anchor here in Melbourne was reading out something that was clearly not news, and made an unscripted comment at the end of the report that showed his displeasure at being made to do so. We are resisting!

Really, a tiny croc like that is only a danger to socks and unsuspecting fingers, and more of a novelty than anything else. It was good to see it actually treated like the (amusing) non-event it was!

Oh, I really hope that y’all don’t end up with that weird “Infoscarytainment” style media. I can’t watch it— not only does it annoy me, but it gets my blood racing.

I cracked up— HARD— when I read the part where you said a major news anchor had “an unscripted comment at the end of the report.” I guess I’m hoping moments like that will slow down the influx of a dubious sort of media.

I meant to do this yesterday— I’m posting a link to your post on FB. I really love this. It’s such a great window into everyday experience.

Thank you for the link, it is a funny bit of news. I hope that the resistance of seasoned newsreaders will keep this kind of thing at bay for a good while yet!
‘Rolling coverage’ was a post I did last year where I griped about how the constant reinforcement of panic affects the people watching, especially kids. I suspect we are on our way to breeding a generation of people that will panic at the slightest thing going wrong, after all, that is what the media is training them to do!